To Stop the Killing
by Candyland
Summary: After completing the ritual, Akane Kiryu swore she would never let anyone kill again.


**AN: **My brain is being eaten by fandoms I don't normally write much for as of late. Oh well, it's all fun. I hope you enjoy the story! I do not own anything Fatal Frame related. I'm just playing with it.

**To Stop the Killing**

She had done it. With Azami's help, she had done it.

Alone in the safety of the room she shared with her sister, Akane sat, huddled in the corner. She held her sister's hand, keeping Azami's fingers clutched closely within her own. Her palms were sweating, her heart was pounding, and she could not seem to make her breathing return to normal.

When Azami had told her what their father was planning, she had not wanted to believe it. After all, their father was the one who had brought Azami back to her in the first place. He cared for her and he cared for her sister and he would not do something like that.

But her doubts soon faded in the face of Azami's insistence. Their father planned to kill Azami by hanging her, and then take her down to the Abyss and throw her in there. It was almost exactly what had happened to Azami the first time in the ritual that could not be spoken of, when Akane had been forced to kill, to give up her sister for the first time.

No. Not again, never again.

Father had brought Azami back to her. Why would he want to take her away again?

Akane couldn't bear the thought of it, not at all. Desperate to protect her sister from her father, she asked Azami what they should do. And Azami's response was very simple: their father had to be stopped. If it meant that he had to die, then they would do it. They would kill him.

Akane balked at the thought of killing. She had sworn she would never kill again, and after Azami had been brought back to her, she had promised that she would never let anyone kill again. She didn't want to kill. She didn't want anyone to die.

…but she also didn't want to lose her sister. Not again. And Azami insisted that if they wanted to stay together, this was the only way. And she did want them to stay together.

So she agreed.

The only other moment of hesitation was when she found a note in her diary, a message not in her own handwriting. She knew whose hand it was, though. And it told her that she did not need to do this. Akane and Azami were one now, so destroy that stupid doll.

…except there was no doll. There was Azami.

No one would ever take her sister away again.

No one would kill again.

And those who would kill must be stopped.

Luckily, Azami had a plan. There was a mechanism, two dolls that resembled the two of them, that their father had built that opened the tunnel that lead down to the Abyss. If they could disable that, then their father would not be able to get down to the Abyss, and then they could stop him. All she needed to do was take some of the doll's pieces. But she had to act quickly; there wasn't much time before he would do what he was planning.

She did as she was told, to protect her sister.

No one was going to kill again.

She took the doll's arms, head, and eyes in the night, after her father had gone to bed. And she hid them in the house. The pieces were not impossible to find, but it would buy them some time to finish what they had to do.

From there, it was only a short time later that they had cornered their father. He demanded to know where the hidden pieces were, told her to get away from the doll. Again, a doll. Why didn't anyone understand?

There was no doll!

That was her sister!

She needed no further encouragement after that. Azami helped her knock their father over and push him to the ground. Her hands found their way to his throat with a strength she had not known she possessed, ignorant of her father's struggling and clawing at her grip.

…odd. This was so much easier than when she had performed the ritual with Azami. And Azami had not fought her or tried to resist her fate. But the feel was all too similar, the sensation of her father's throat warm and moving and alive in her hands.

And just like Azami, he had soon gone still. The life was gone. No more warmth.

She had fled then, leaving him there on the floor. Azami had followed her back to their room without a word, and joined her in the safety and the darkness of the corner. Still she said nothing.

Akane was surprised to realize that she was shaking. She had killed her father. She had sworn never to kill again, never to let anyone kill. But her father had intended to kill Azami. She had killed to stop him, to save her sister from dying a second time…

Why did people have to kill at all?

"Azami?" she whispered in the darkness.

"Yes?" a soft voice replied.

"…we're going to stay together, right?" Akane asked again.

She heard a rustle and felt the form move next to her. Her hand was squeezed, and something brushed her hair. "Of course, Akane. Now that he's gone, we can stay together forever."

Strange, Akane thought. A moment ago, she had been shaky and nervous. Now she felt very tired. "Is that a promise?"

"It's a promise," Azami said, close enough that her breath actually tickled her sister's cheek.

Akane's eyes began to close. "We'll stay…" she felt herself slump against the wall, her muscles limp, "…together…"

"That's right."

…it did not sound like Azami's voice anymore. It sounded different. Lower, maybe? She couldn't quite say what it was that was off about it. But Akane didn't care, didn't mind. She had her sister, and she was one with her sister, and that…

…was…

…enough…

As Akane felt herself slip away into a darkness that seemed far deeper than that of sleep or the night, the last thing she heard was the sound of soft, high pitched laughter beside her.

* * *

**PS.** _This follows the idea that after she killed her father to save her "sister," Akane's soul was taken by the doll. Thanks for reading! Much love!_


End file.
